TY - JOUR A1 - Hahn, Marc Benjamin A1 - Solomun, Tihomir A1 - Wellhausen, Robert A1 - Herrmann, S A1 - Seitz, H A1 - Meyer, Susann A1 - Kunte, Hans-Jörg A1 - Zeman, J. A1 - Uhlig, F A1 - Smiatek, J A1 - Sturm, Heinz T1 - Influence of the Compatible Solute Ectoine on the Local Water Structure: Implications for the Binding of the Protein G5P to DNA N2 - Microorganisms accumulate molar concentrations of compatible solutes like ectoine to prevent proteins from denaturation. Direct structural or spectroscopic information on the mechanism and about the hydration shell around ectoine are scarce. We combined surface plasmon resonance (SPR), confocal Raman spectroscopy, molecular dynamics simulations, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations to study the local hydration shell around ectoine and its influence on the binding of a gene-S-protein (G5P) to a single-stranded DNA (dT(25)). Due to the very high hygroscopicity of ectoine, it was possible to analyze the highly stable hydration shell by confocal Raman spectroscopy. Corresponding molecular dynamics simulation results revealed a significant change of the water dielectric constant in the presence of a high molar ectoine concentration as compared to pure water. The SPR data showed that the amount of protein bound to DNA decreases in the presence of ectoine, and hence, the protein-DNA dissociation constant increases in a concentration-dependent manner. Concomitantly, the Raman spectra in terms of the amide I region revealed large changes in the protein secondary structure. Our results indicate that ectoine strongly affects the molecular recognition between the protein and the oligonudeotide, which has important consequences for osmotic regulation mechanisms. KW - Aqueous solution KW - Biological structure KW - Raman spectroscopy KW - Organic osmolytes KW - High throughput KW - Gene-5 protein KW - Amino acid KW - Water structure PY - 2015 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcb.5b09506 SN - 1520-6106 SN - 1089-5647 SN - 1520-5207 VL - 119 IS - 49 SP - 15212 EP - 15220 AN - OPUS4-35800 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fankhänel, J. A1 - Silbernagl, Dorothee A1 - Ghasem Zadeh Khorasani, Media A1 - Daum, B. A1 - Kempe, A. A1 - Sturm, Heinz A1 - Rolfes, R. T1 - Mechanical properties of Boehmite evaluated by Atomic Force Microscopy experiments and Molecular Dynamic Finite Element simulations N2 - Boehmite nanoparticles show great potential in improving mechanical properties of fiber reinforced polymers. In order to predict the properties of nanocomposites, knowledge about the material parameters of the constituent phases, including the boehmite particles, is crucial. In this study, the mechanical behavior of boehmite is investigated using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) experiments and Molecular Dynamic Finite Element Method (MDFEM) simulations. Young’s modulus of the perfect crystalline boehmite nanoparticles is derived from numerical AFM simulations. Results of AFM experiments on boehmite nanoparticles deviate significantly. Possible causes are identified by experiments on complementary types of boehmite, that is, geological and hydrothermally synthesized samples, and further simulations of imperfect crystals and combined boehmite/epoxy models. Under certain circumstances, the mechanical behavior of boehmite was found to be dominated by inelastic effects that are discussed in detail in the present work.The studies are substantiated with accompanying X-ray diffraction and Raman experiments. KW - AFM KW - MDFEM KW - Nanocomposite KW - Epoxy KW - X-ray diffraction KW - Raman spectroscopy KW - Young’s modulus KW - Slippage of weakly linked layers PY - 2016 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-384230 UR - https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jnm/2016/5017213/#B26 DO - https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/5017213 VL - 2016 IS - Article ID 5017213 SP - 1 EP - 13 PB - Hindawi Publishing Corporation AN - OPUS4-38423 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hahn, Marc Benjamin A1 - Uhlig, F. A1 - Solomun, Tihomir A1 - Smiatek, J. A1 - Sturm, Heinz T1 - Combined influence of ectoine and salt: spectroscopic and numerical evidence for compensating effects of aqueous solutions N2 - Ectoine is an important osmolyte, which allows microorganisms to survive in extreme environmental salinity. The hygroscopic effects of ectoine in pure water can be explained by a strong water binding behavior whereas a study on the effects of ectoine in salty solution is yet missing. We provide Raman spectroscopic evidence that the influence of ectoine and NaCl are opposing and completely independent of each other. The effect can be explained by the formation of strongly hydrogen-bonded water molecules around ectoine which compensate the influence of the salt on the water dynamics. The mechanism is corroborated by first principles calculations and broadens our understanding of zwitterionic osmolytes in aqueous solution. Our findings allow us to provide a possible explanation for the relatively high osmolyte concentrations in halotolerant bacteria. KW - Ectoine KW - Aqueous solution KW - Biological structure KW - Organic osmolytes KW - Raman spectroscopy KW - Water structure PY - 2016 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-376761 UR - http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2016/cp/c6cp05417j#!divAbstract DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/c6cp05417j VL - 18 IS - 41 SP - 28398 EP - 28402 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - UK AN - OPUS4-37676 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mierczynska, A. A1 - Friedrich, Jörg Florian A1 - Maneck, Heinz-Eberhard A1 - Boiteux, G. A1 - Jeszka, J.K. T1 - Segregated network polymer/carbon nanotubes composites N2 - In this work we present the preparation of conductive polyethylene/carbon nanotube composites based on the segregated network concept. Attention has been focused on the effect of decreasing the amount of filler necessary to achieve low resistivity. Using high- and low-grade single-walled carbon nanotube materials we obtained conductive composites with a low percolation threshold of 0.5 wt.% for high-grade nanotubes, about 1 wt% for commercial nanotubes and 1.5 wt% for low-grade material. The higher percolation threshold for low-grade material is related to low effectiveness of other carbon fractions in the network formation. The electrical conductivity was measured as a function of the single-walled carbon nanotubes content in the polymer matrix and as a function of temperature. It was also found that processing parameters significantly influenced the electrical conductivity of the composites. Raman spectroscopy was applied to study single wall nanotubes in the conductive composites. KW - Polymer KW - Single-walled carbon nanotubes KW - Composite KW - Segregated network KW - Sintering KW - Conductivity KW - Raman spectroscopy PY - 2004 DO - https://doi.org/10.2478/BF02475579 SN - 1644-3624 SN - 1895-1066 VL - 2 IS - 2 SP - 363 EP - 370 PB - Central European Science Journals CY - Warsaw AN - OPUS4-3583 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -